Given their context, the three words scrawled on a chalkboard outside Jeremy's Ale House in New York are defiant, even victorious.

"We are open."

The pub is one of the few survivors in one of New York's historic districts devastated by Superstom Sandy, which ripped through the region last month.

The South Street Seaport was decimated when storm surge combined with high tide to pack a punch so powerful it rendered almost the whole of this New York landmark useless.

Boards cover windows where businesses once thrived. Mannequins are seen lying face down in stores where cleanup and renovation is under way.

Amid the ruin, Jeremy's endures - a welcome watering hole for weary residents.

Read the full story: Post Sandy, a resilient NY bar offers 'a little bit of hope'